‘Road’ to Hollywood

Hellman offers no excuses, no refunds at preem

Eight months after director Monte Hellman won a special career award at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, his latest pic, Monterey Media’s “Road to Nowhere,” finally unspooled in Hollywood.

Introducing the film at the Egyptian, producer-screenwriter Steven Gaydos (who is Variety’s executive editor) told the Saturday-night aud, “This is a hometown screening. There’s no place to hide.”

Mike Medavoy joined in the Hellman fan club. “My career started with Monte Hellman, who introduced the idea there was a new generation of filmmakers coming out of Hollywood,” said Medavoy, recalling his agent days. “This is where it all started.”

Hellman, for his part, kept it simple, saying a friend had emailed him some opening-night advice: “No explanations. No apologies. And most important, no refunds.”